
Robert Sapolsky | Father-Offspring Interviews
Dr. Robert Sapolsky and his Offspring answer your questions, with topics ranging from his books to his time doing field work in Kenya, current research to current events, and lots more.
Latest episodes

Jul 17, 2025 • 39min
#71: IQ, Earworms, Thinking vs. Feeling | Robert Sapolsky Father-Offspring Interviews
Episode 71 of Father-Offspring Interviews. This episode discusses how our IQ’s are increasing, why that one song is stuck in your head, and whether we think or feel our way to decisions.Captions available for translation.Social & WebsitesQuestion Submission: https://ha66meqrpqz.typeform.com/sapolskyInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/robert.sapolsky00:00 Intro00:15 Question 1 (IQ’s)00:09:39 Question 2 (Earworms)00:16:30 Question 3 (Thinking vs Feeling)

Jul 11, 2025 • 34min
#70: Israel, Placebos, Tit-for-tat | Robert Sapolsky Father-Offspring Interviews
Episode 70 of Father-Offspring Interviews. Topics in this episode include placebos, updates on Sapolsky’s lectures, and whether Israel is simply doing tit-for-tat.Captions available for translation.NOTE: we are not accepting more questions for the time being, but the form will be reopened soon.Social & WebsitesQuestion Submission: https://ha66meqrpqz.typeform.com/sapolskyInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/robert.sapolsky00:00 Intro00:15 Question 1 (Placebos)15:03 Question 2 (Updated Lectures16:01 Question 3 (Israel: tit-for-tat?)

Jul 3, 2025 • 34min
#69: Sex – Penis Size, BDSM, Missionary Position | Robert Sapolsky Father-Offspring Interviews
Episode 69 of Father-Offspring Interviews. This episode focuses on questions about sex, such as penis sizes, clothing as sexual modesty, BDSM and the relationship between arousal and fear, and why humans have face-to-face sex.Captions available for translation.NOTE: we are not accepting more questions for the time being, but the form will be reopened soon.Social & WebsitesQuestion Submission: https://ha66meqrpqz.typeform.com/sapolskyInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/robert.sapolsky00:00: Intro00:23: Question 1 (Penis Sizes)00:15:36: Question 2 (Clothing as sexual modesty)00:18:14: Question 3 (BDSM)00:27:20: Question 4 (Missionary Position)

Jun 26, 2025 • 31min
#68: Animal Politics, Bodily Secretions, Gesturing | Robert Sapolsky Father-Offspring Interviews
Episode 68 of Father-Offspring Interviews. This episode discusses gestural expression, whether animals have political systems, and why others’ bodily secretions disgust us.Social & WebsitesQuestion Submission: https://ha66meqrpqz.typeform.com/sapolskyInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/robert.sapolsky00:00 Intro00:19 Question 1 (Gestural expression)09:48 Question 2 (Animal politics)19:34 Question 3 (Bodily secretions)

Jun 19, 2025 • 43min
#67: PTSD, Night Shifts, Wincing | Robert Sapolsky Father-Offspring Interviews
Episode 67 of Father-Offspring Interviews. Topics in this episode include whether night shift rotating is ideal, why we wince, and the hippocampal damage of PTSD.Social & WebsitesQuestion Submission: https://ha66meqrpqz.typeform.com/sapolskyInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/robert.sapolsky00:00: Intro00:20: Question 1 (Night Shift rotating)00:15:30: Question 2 (Wincing)00:21:16: Question 3 (PTSD Hippocampal Atrophy)

Jun 12, 2025 • 43min
#66: Forgiveness, Optimal Living, SA Prediction | Robert Sapolsky Father-Offspring Interviews
Episode 66 of Father-Offspring Interviews. This episode discusses the optimal living environment for humans, how we forgive, and whether suicide attempts can really be predicted and prevented.Social & WebsitesQuestion Submission: https://ha66meqrpqz.typeform.com/sapolskyInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/robert.sapolsky00:00: Intro00:43: Question 1 (Optimal living environment)17:13: Question 2 (The science of forgiveness)30:56: Question 3 (Suicide prediction)

Jun 5, 2025 • 35min
#65: Stress Addiction, Genome Differences, Metaphorical Diets | Robert Sapolsky Father-Offspring Interviews
Episode 65 of Father-Offspring Interviews. Topics in this episode include the 1% difference between human and chimp genomes, how stress hormones can be addictive, and if one can lose weight with a metaphorical diet.Social & WebsitesQuestion Submission: https://ha66meqrpqz.typeform.com/sapolskyInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/robert.sapolsky00:00: Intro00:43: Question 1 (Genome differences)00:17:13: Question 2 (Stress hormone addiction)00:25:28: Question 3 (Metaphorical diets)

May 29, 2025 • 36min
#64: Botox, Chemo Brain, Chess | Robert Sapolsky Father-Offspring Interviews
Episode 64 of Father-Offspring Interviews. Topics in this episode include the brain fog experienced during chemotherapy, the effects of Botox on emotion, and how many calories chess players burn.Social & WebsitesQuestion Submission: https://ha66meqrpqz.typeform.com/sapolskyInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/robert.sapolsky00:00: Intro00:15: Question 1 (Chemo brain fog)13:53: Question 2 (Botox and emotions)24:55: Question 3 (Chess and calorie burning)

May 22, 2025 • 45min
#63: Wealth Disparity, Smell Loss, Libet | Robert Sapolsky Father-Offspring Interviews
Episode 63 of Father-Offspring Interviews. This episode discusses the loss of smell in COVID-19, the 1983 Libet study, and the relative standing of current inequality.Social & WebsitesQuestion Submission: https://ha66meqrpqz.typeform.com/sapolskyInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/robert.sapolsky00:00: Intro00:15: Question 1 (COVID and smell)10:22: Question 2 (Libet et al.)28:28: Question 3 (Inequality — better or worse?)

May 15, 2025 • 32min
#62: Palestine, Monkey Language, Dutch Hunger Winter | Robert Sapolsky Father-Offspring Interviews
Episode 62 of Father-Offspring Interviews. Topics in this episode include the function of language brain regions in other apes and monkeys, the “developmental origin of health and disease” and the Dutch Hunger Winter, and how this applies to Palestine.Social & WebsitesQuestion Submission: https://ha66meqrpqz.typeform.com/sapolskyInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/robert.sapolsky00:00: Intro00:15: Question 1 (Monkey and ape language brains)13:28: Question 2 (Dutch Hunger Winter)25:44: Question 3 (Applicability to Palestine)